Posted on 22 Jul 2024
Addressing delegates, Wang stressed that there would be more scope for steel usage to rise during this half of the year from the "three major projects" being advocated by the central government, namely urban village renovation, affordable housing construction, and building of public facilities that can be quickly repurposed for emergency use.
For example, National Development and Reform Commission statistics show that by early this month, 54 Chinese cities had progressed some 3,000 projects involving construction of public facilities with provisions for emergencies where the total investment was over Yuan 1 trillion ($137.6 billion), Mysteel Global notes.
"The process is advancing from trial use to further construction, which should translate to more steel being used in H2," Wang told attendees, estimating that the "three projects" initiative could boost steel demand by about 10 million tonnes in 2024.
Meanwhile, more growth in steel demand from China's manufacturing sector is likely in H2, he predicted, mainly thanks to the country's campaign encouraging large-scale equipment upgrades and replacement programs for consumer goods.
The central government had announced the strategy in March and in late June, had released supportive financial policies to further promote the campaign, Wang explained.
Apart from the possible growth in direct steel demand, Mysteel's chief analyst also said that the rebound in China's producer price index seen currently might lead the levels of production and stocks of industrial firms to pick up during this half, which in turn would give a lift to indirect steel consumption to some extent.
Besides, the torrential rains that had affected in many regions of China earlier this summer had constrained the country's steel consumption, leaving more room for steel demand to climb in H2, Wang added.
Source:Mysteel Global
